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(No Model.) Y 3 Sheets-Sheet 1. J. MAGUIRE & N. S. .GARY. MACHINE FOR FOLDING AND WINDING CLOTH.

Patented Nov. 26, 1889.

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(No Model.) 3 SheetsSheet 2.

J. MA'GUIRE & N. S. GARY.

MACHINE FOR FOLDING AND WINDING CLOTH. No. 415,874 Patented Nov. 26, 1889.

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3 sheets-sheet 3. J. MAGUIRE &N. S. GARY. MACHINE FOB. FOLDING AND WINDING GLOTH.

Patented Noy. 26,1889.

INVIN THEE UNITED ST TES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN MAGUIRE AND NATHANIEL S. GARY, OF OAKLAND, RI-IOD E ISLAND.

. MACHINE FOR FOLDING AND WINDING CLOTH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 415,874, dated November 26, 1889.

Application filed December 26, 1888. $erial No. 294,603. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern..-

Be it known that We, JOHN MAGUIRE and NATHANIEL S. CARY, of Oakland, in the county of Providence and State of Rhode Island, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Folding and \Vinding Cloth, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part. of this specification.

This invention has reference to improvements in cloth-folding machines in which. the cloth is folded longitudinally.

The invention consists in the peculiar and novel construction of the devices by means of which the cloth is guided so as to secure an even and uniform fold through the middle of the cloth, as will be more fully set forth hereinafter.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a view of the side of the improved machine where the cloth to be folded enters the machine. Fig. 2 is a broken front view of the machine. Fig. 3 is a broken View of the side of the machine where the power is applied, showing the driving-pulley, the shipper, and the gears for rotating the board on which the cloth is wound. Fig. 4: is a top view of the machine. Fig. 5 is a side view of the guide by which the edge of the cloth is controlled; and Fig. 6 is an end View, partly in section, showing the two edgeguiding devices supported on the bifurcated lever.

Similar numbers of reference designate corresponding parts throughout the drawings.

The cloth to be folded is placed in a plaited batch on the floor or on a low platform at 8. The end of the cloth is now passed over the shaft 9 between the guides 10 10. The shaft 9 is provided at one end with a right-handed screw-thread and on the other hand with a left-handed screw-thread. The guides 10 10 are threaded, so that by turning the crank at the end of the shaft 9 the guides 10 will be moved farther apart or closer together by turning the shaft 9 in one or the opposite direction. The guides 10 slide laterally on the shaft 12, which passes through holes formed in the guides, a shaft 99 being shown in the drawings between the shafts 9 and 12, which is used to give additional tension or stretch to the cloth by passing the cloth over the same and then under the shaft 12. The guides 10 are each provided on their inner side with the fingers 11, and the edge of the cloth. passes between these fingers and the shaft 9'. cloth is now passed under the shaft 12 and over the roll 13 and extended over the trian-- gular frame 14, supported by the central rod 15, on which is adjustably secured by means of a collar 159 and a clamp-screw 169 the creasing-finger 16, which is also independently adjustable in the collar by means of a clampscrew 168, as is clearly shown in Fig. 2. The two edges of the cloth are now passed through the edge-guides 1.7, the peculiar construction of which will be more fully described hereinafter. The folded cloth is now passed be tween the two rollers 18 18 and around the board 19, held in the sockets 20, one of which is connected with a screw-shaft operated by the hand-wheel 21, so that by turning the hand-wheel the socket is moved outward to allow the board 19 to be withdrawn and another inserted. The sockets 20 are turned by means of gears 29 on each socket meshing with the gears 291 on the shaft 22, one of the gears on this shaft meshing with a pinion 292 on the driving-shaft, on which the loose and tight pulleys are placed. The belt is moved by a shipper from the loose to the tight pulley by means of the rod 2 1, bellcrank lever 25, and the rod 26, the end of which is provided with a handle.

The cloth being placed, as above described, on the machine, the belt is shipped from the loose to the tight pulley and the machine started. lVhen once properly adjusted, the machine will double or fold the cloth with the two edges exactly even and the whole roll of cloth will present even ends. The edge-guides 17 are supported on the bifurcated arm 27, hinged on the pin 35, secured to the vertical standard 7 of the frame of the machine. The said arm bears near the hinged end on the spring 30, thus securing to the edge-guides a slightly-yielding support. The ends of the bifurcated arm 27 are provided with the bifurcated supports 28, in each limb of which the screws 29 are threaded. The pointed ends of the screws 29 enter sockets in the frame 30. One end of this frame 30 is open, so that the cloth may be entered. In the frames 30 the cylinders 31 are journaled so as to turn The freely. The surfaces of the cylinders 31 are provided with a large number of short pointed pins which penetrate and hold the cloth. Above the cylinders 31 the rod 32 is secured in the frame 30, and on the same the pressers 33 are hinged. These pressers extend to or about the center of the pin-cylinders 31 and are held against the face of the cylinders by means of springs 345, as is shown in Fig. 5. An operating-arm 34: extends upward from each of the pressers 33, so that by pressing the two upper arms 31 34 together the pressers are moved away from the cylinders 31 and the edge of the cloth may be inserted between the pressers and the pin-cylinder or adjusted on the same. The cloth thus passes under the horizontal edge of one of the pressers 33, around about one-l1alf of the pin-cylinder 31, and by the other resser-arm downward to and between the rollers 18. Vhen the arms 34 are released, the pressers will bear against the cloth and hold the same in contact with the pin-cylinders 31. The pin-cylinders revolve freely with the cloth passing over the same, and the pins, in connection with the pressers, will guide the edges accurately and evenly. As the cloth is thus firmly held and the edge-guides are supported on the hinged bifurcated arm 27, the weight of the edgeguiding mechanism and its supporting-frame will stretch and smooth the cloth and the ma chine will fold the cloth smoothly and evenly. As some cloth will stretch more than other cloth under the same strain, the strain can be accurately adjusted by moving the creasingfinger 16 out or in, thus increasing or reducing the strain on the cloth. These adjustments can be readily made while the machine is in operation.

Having thus described our invention, we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. In a cloth-folding machine, the combination, with the adjustable guides 10, roller 13, and frame 14, of the adjustable creasing-finger 16, the bifurcated arm 27, pivotally secured to the frame of the machine, the edgeguides 17, and mechanism for drawing and winding the cloth, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. In a cloth-folding machine, the combination, with the frame 14 and rod 15, of the adjustable creasing finger 16, the bifurcated arm 27, spring 36, and the edge-guides 17, constructed to regulate the lateral strain on the cloth, as described.

3. In a cloth-folding machine, the combination, with the frame 14 and creasing-finger 16, of the hinged bifurcated arm27, theframes 30, having the pin-cylinders 31, and the pressers 33, provided with the operating-levers 34, constructed to guide the cloth in the process of folding, as described.

' JOHN MAGUIRE.

NATHANIEL S. CARY. \Vitnesses:

JOSEPH A. MILLER, M. F. BLIGH. 

